Friday, 22 March 2013

French Food Friday...Raymond Blanc's Blackcurrant Charlotte

Bonjour mes belles,This week's recipe is inspired by the lovely maman de Felicity who served boudoirs or ladies fingers bicuits with tea this afternoon, in the dining room of their "fairytale like" chateau. I cannot think of a nicer place to enjoy a good cup of tea...

Method:1. For the sabayon: In a large heatproof bowl, whisk the egg yolks,
caster sugar, wine and lemon juice together for one minute. Stand the
bowl over a bain-marie of barely simmering water, making sure it is not
touching the water, and whisk for seven to eight minutes until it
reaches 78°C, resulting in a light fluffy sabayon.

2. Remove the
bowl from the heat and place over a larger bowl of crushed ice. Continue
to whisk until the sabayon is cold. In another bowl, whip the cream to
soft peaks and then fold into the cold sabayon. Cover and refrigerate
until ready to use.This sabayon can be poured onto any fruits, warm or
cold. It can also be frozen.

3. For the sponge, preheat the oven
to 190ºC/gas mark 5. Line a baking tray, about 30 x 40 centimetres, with
greaseproof paper. On the paper, draw two 14 centimetres circles (for
the bases) and a 10 x 25 centimetres oblong (for the sides), then turn
the paper over.

4. Using an electric mixer on full power, whisk
the egg whites with the lemon juice and half the caster sugar to form
soft peaks. Gradually whisk in the rest of the caster sugar and continue
to beat until firm. Turn the speed to low, add the egg yolks and carry
on beating until well mixed in. Remove the bowl from the machine then,
using a spatula, gently fold in the sifted flour; do not over-mix.

5.
To pipe the sponge: put the sponge mixture into a piping bag fitted
with the 8 millimetres nozzle and pipe a continuous line of adjoining
sponge fingers onto the paperlined tray, side by side, from one end of
the stencilled oblong to the other, making sure you go right to the
edges. Pipe the remaining mixture over the stencilled discs, to make two
14 centimetre sponge rounds

6. Dust the
sponge with icing sugar, leave for five minutes and then dust again.
Bake in the oven for eight to ten minutes until cooked and lightly
coloured. Leave to rest for fifteen minutes, then peel away the paper.